Future generations may well look back on the past hundred years in which drugs were a major center of conflict on planet Earth. Humans see no harm in using drugs sold in pharmacies which make them feel better, but if a human uses a drug not sold in a pharmacy that makes them feel better, it becomes a crime. The Philippine government is conducting random drug tests of children in school. The most interesting aspect of this drug program is asking teachers and administrators to select which students are to be tested. Imagine a teacher pointing out student “X” as the one to be tested and discovering that individual tested for drugs? Imagine if other students discovered their teacher was pointing out potential criminals to the police?

One is also left wondering what would happen if several thousand students tested positive for drugs. Would schools then organize programs dealing with drug abuse? Would the students be placed in the criminal court system and subject to drug rehabilitation programs? It is all well and good to test people, but does anyone have a program in mind to assist the students who test positive?

The number of Chinese students studying abroad reached record highs last year. More thn 144,000 students went abroad and by the end of the year about 44,000 students had returned hom to find work in China. Of the students who studied abroad almost 90 percent were self-funded while the govenment paid for 8,000 to study overseas. Since 1978, about 1.2 million Chinese students have studied in a foreign univeristy. The number of returned students has been gradually rising and since 2003 and about 166,000 have come home. Government figures reveal 70% of the 70,00 students who returned to China over the past three years had earned master’s degrees. About 47% of those returned students had majored in the humanities and social science and about 45 percent studied engineerng. Only 2% pursued a degree in medicine.

The good news is that over a million future leaders of China have now had direct contact with the outside world and will not be -so readily persuaded about the evil of the western world. The bad news is they have lived in the western world and learned all about its problems nd faults.

In a brief announcement, the Burmese military junta confirmed it still retained in prison 468 of the 2,927 who were arrested for protesting against their nation’s dictatorship. Among those being held are monks who led the protest that was crushed by police and military units. Experts were intrigued the announcement did not also contain typical anti-western rhetoric which blames any troubles in Myanmar on outside “elements.” Three members of the 88 generation(in 1988, the military junta crushed a student led protest and killed hundreds) sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon which said: “Thousands of protestors including monks and students, continue to suffer ill treatment and severe torture in detention centres and some have passed away in captivity.” They concluded their letter with the following comment: “this may be the last letter we send you before our arrest and torture.”

There is nothing anyone can add to the last line of the letter. Perhaps, next year a Nobel Peace prize can be awarded to all those who marched in protest against the brutality of the Burmese military junta.